…Never. I came across these vids on Facebook today and it disturbs me that world-class artists like Steve Angello and Guetta give themselves to this. Watch and form your own observations:

Now with all due respect – these guys get paid super-mega stacks. So MAYBE its the promoters making “sure” that there are no “technical difficulties” in their sets. If that’s the case, I’ll pass on the big-buck gigs – because if I can’t perform live to a crowd of 10,000 then I shouldn’t even play for a crowd of 100. To delete the thrill of feeling out a crowd or launching that next track at that perfect moment – not happening.

This is more geared toward the fans and supporters of EDM than the aspiring DJs… to realize that many of your local DJ’s are actually doing (and risking) a whole lot more than some artists you just might pay $$$ to see play charades. So support them. Hard.

Cheers.

So the other night I’m at the venue, making sure the night is running smoothly and overheard one of our colleague’s sets. The mids were blasting uncomfortably loud, to the point it tingled my ears. So between checking the head mixer at the bar, and the settings on the DJ’s deck – I realized that my colleague was playing a low-bitrate song. For home listening, they’re not bad – but in the club, they sound horrible. I let him finish his set, told him what the deal was… and in return he had asked me the ONE question I knew was inevitable: “Why do you take this so seriously?” Good question. Here’s my rather drawn-out rant about it…

I’d say that a few years ago, before Traktor and Virtual DJ’s uprise, the entry-level to DJing was pretty expensive. You had to use CDJ’s or turntables – which meant that you had to be serious about DJing (i.e., you had your transitions down, you knew what songs went together, etc.) to begin with. Now with a few bucks and a cheap controller, can enter the DJ realm, but without the sweat and tears of learning the core basics of mixing. Which in one end isn’t bad, but in the other, you’ve got a major quality vs. quantity crisis in your hands. And when you have too many DJ’s, the ones you’re gonna flock to are the ones that stand out, because they either have their transitions down, and / or bring something new to the table… which I’ll cover in a future rant.

Truth is, learning the core basics of mixing - proper cue points, knowing where to fade in / fade out your songs, etc. - will only make you sound better. In my experience, dead spots (when people stop dancing) are bad. Who goes to a club to stop dancing in between each song? Then think, who’s the crowd gonna like better? …The DJ they never stopped dancing to, or the DJ that they remember having stopped dancing to?  But what if  a DJ just wants to have fun? Well then, that’s cool.

Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s something I need to remind myself sometimes. But the second money becomes involved (most club settings),  certain things start to matter. I can’t have someone  playing Bass Cannon at max volume at 9pm. I can’t have a headliner who has too many dead spots in his mix when the club is full, or someone who plays < 320kbps tracks. Not because it makes you look bad, but after a while, it starts to make the venue look bad. Which is probably why I take this so seriously.

End rant.

Man, now that I’ve jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, I’ve come to realize that social media is no joke. I’ve also realized that deciding what to push where can be quite overwhelming, so I decided to take a top-down look at my social spider web.

I decided to remove show updates on my DJ Rayrex fan page, since that’s pretty irrelevant to my out-of-country fans. I’d feel guilty spamming their walls with that. Also, my Rayrex Ready app displays my tweets and fan page updates. Seeing said dates on the FB, Twitter AND show date tabs of my app seems pretty redundant, so I’m limiting show dates to my personal FB page and my blog from now on. Now as far as content goes…

My tweets are gonna be “thought of the day” or “hey this is what I’m doing” typical twitter affairs. My fan page is gonna be the catch-all for new releases, mixes, and statuses that would appeal to all of my intercontinental fans. My personal FB will naturally cover things on a local level. My blog, I’ve decided – will work out better for editorials and some of my deeper philosophies / rants. Method-to-the-madness type deals. Think Deadmau5′s blog, but with better grammar.

Lastly, my app catches everything - so if you REALLY want to be in-the-know, grab it. It’s free, you know.

So if you don’t say anymore updates on one medium, it’s just because I’m just on a quality-control tip now (and not trying to flood my app). I should totally have a degree in marketing or something.

My fan page
@djrayrex on Twitter
Rayrex Ready app: rayrex.mobapp.at (on your mobile device)

So my plan to move my command center to St. Pete is a no-go. I’m headed back to Tally on Friday. Am I upset? Nah.

I saw a chance to move a little closer to my hometown, as well as being closer to the Orlando, Tampa AND South Florida EDM scenes… but it didn’t turn out as I’d hoped. It’s a long story that I really don’t need to get into. I’ll be back to doing my thing at home base (Episodes),  helping out all the self-starters getting their foot in the door, and saving my ass a ton of gas on trips to Tally every weekend too (keep in mind, I’m driving a 5-liter V8!), so I’m looking forward to the better days.

This wasn’t a complete loss. While I’m down here, I’ve already figured out my next setup. Some of you may have caught wind of it on some of my FB statuses –  but for those of you that haven’t, don’t worry… I’ll blog about it soon enough. ;)

I’ll see you Friday, Tally!

I suppose if I only blog when things are going good, I’d be better off shutting this site down. I was just never much of a guy to put my personal business out there. Seems needy. I’ve relocated to St. Pete for now since I was let go of my state job. I was pretty buttsore about it, but come to find out it looks like they’re downsizing so it was  bound to happen anyway. In the meantime, I’m looking for work in both cities. That’s sort of what’s going on right now.

Depending on how long I stay here, I may look into checking out the local scene. I found out about a local dubstep night called Turbo Tuesdays, so while I’m here I may as well check it out.

I’ve also been thinking about the direction with my blog. At first it was kind of more like a journal, then I got a little lost in the flow. Since my new thing is about helping other new, starving DJs / musicians, I may start posting links and tips I come across as I go. Between my blog, my fan page and my mobile app it gets confusing as what I should post where, so for now I’m thinking:

Blog: journal articles, some of my music/DJing philosophies, detailed info on projects I’m working on, rants :P
Fan page: showtime alerts, polls, blurbs, tracks / mix uploads
App: all the above, but in your phone!

If you have a mobile web browser or a smart phone, just go to http://rayrex.mobapp.at  (or scan the QR on my fan page) to dl my app. Since I may be playing both here AND Tallahassee, I’m gonna be making sure it’s on point (and maybe even give it a catchy name).

Alright guys, Rayrex out.

My fan page
Turbo Tuesday on Facebook